Penrose Pointe State Park

A week of camping under the stars, lulled to sleep by the sound of the trees brushing against each other and the crackling of the warm fire.  Our family get together this year was at a quiet state park in Washington state...at least it was quiet until we got there : )  We did observe the quiet times of 10-6...but other than that..it was a rolicking, crazy reunion.   We erected 7 tents in record time.  Setting up chairs and mess hall for the feeding of 17.  (+ the 2 pugs)  It takes a well orchestrated plan to organize for such a group.  Luckily my mom and sisters are just the people for the job.  The temps and weather cooperated the whole time.  Cold/cool in the am..perfect warmth mid/late day.  The kids explored the trails and beach.  Low tide happened at all the right moments, smores were made.  Many card and board games fought and won.  We came home tired but content, and ready to start planning for next years exodus..where ever that may be.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The weather here is sweltering!  Over 100 today and reports of the same for the next week.  Might need to do a rain dance.  On the plus side the lovely humidity that marks this region has not snuck into the picture yet.  Reminds me of my childhood in California when we used to fry eggs on the sidewalk when it got up into the 120's. 

Made some cards for the girls at work.  I love putting little cards and such in the mailboxes.  : )

Love those cute Pure Innocents from MFT.  Patterned paper from October Afternoon-Sasparilla.  Solid from SU.  Brads from stash that I'm working on cleaning out.  Die from MFT. Flock on vest.  Coloring-copics.

Surprise.  I am still alive and here.  What a wild ride the past few years have been.  Have I been stamping and scrapping...yes.  Have I been posting...no.  Bad me.  We finally moved lock, stock and barrel last year to Tennessee.  I'm not looking forward to having to do that again any time soon.  My dh, bless his heart, had us unpacked and everything put away in under 3 days.  3 days!!!  No left over boxes hiding in the corners, no boxes put up till later...everything!!!   I felt like we had gone through moving boot camp.  But, it made it easier for everyone after the initial whirlwind.  We had our 25th anniversary in our new home, cut our first real Christmas tree, and met new friends. The kids are adjusting well, middle one in college, youngest about to be a senior. Oldest made it about 9 months before she moved back to Georgia.  Life here is a bit slower , more relaxed.  I got a dream job working at a stamp/scrap store, I don't bring home much in way of pay.  Paycheck...who needs a paycheck.  : )

Made this quick card for my sweetie for fathers day. Very apropos seeing as he has been in the airplane industry all his life.  Know you can't tell but the goggles have crystal effects on them.  I'm loving the Pure Innocents by My Favorite Things.  They are so fun to color!  The fathers day sentiment is PTI.  Solid paper by SU and airplane code paper: Theresa Collins World Traveler. Coloring: copics. Ink: PTI black.  Star brads..no clue have had them in my stash for years.

Food (not for the faint at heart)

Here it is, the food. I have to admit I was impressed...this is the man who will go to Olive Garden and order the same dish. EVERY TIME! He did this in India also, went native, so to speak and mostly ate their food. What can I say, after 23 years, he still manages to amaze me!

Shanghai

Well, honey got back from China a few weeks ago. Sounds like it was a wild time! He found out that a friend that he hasn't seen in years was going to be there at the same time and they hooked up and caught up on everything. (we turned them onto Skype!) And he also ran into a guy he hasn't seen since he was in the military 20 years ago! How small a world is that?!? This building has the tallest observation tower in the world. There are glass floors at the top so you could look down...so not something I would do! I could get up there, but would avoid those like the plague!

At night everything was lit up. They were having a huge celebration on one of the weeks he was there. He ate, for the most part, native foods. There were several of the students that took him around to different restaurant's to sample the local fare.

Wow

Wow! Where did the time go? I have been such a bad blogger. My only excuse is that I lost my craft room. Its gone..history...dream that once was.

We still haven't moved, in fact, eldest daughter moved back home (answer to prayer that) and has decided to go to college. Middle daughter started college, youngest started high school. We live a very disorganized life, dh is sometimes home for a week and then gone for a week. He is heading out this fall to Shanghai and Japan. (we get to go with him to Japan!)

Also with eldest moving back we are up to 3 cats in the house. And dh, for our anniversary, wanted a Puggle. (pug/beagle mix) We are now the proud owners of a cute, if somewhat untrained puppy. I'm so glad that the downstairs is tile and pergo..makes clean up while we potty train so much easier.

I'm hoping to be able to stamp soon, I've rigged my long table in my bedroom (which will probably have to go if we put the house on the market) but for now, I'm clinging to my little patch of stamping heaven. My stamp spending, um, collecting has slowed down considerably, since I have no room to house it until I use it. I keep telling myself ; now is a good time to use up all those designer papers, brads, ribbons, buttons, etc that I've been hoarding all these years. Cause there just ain't room for it now!

Anywho, just a quick update and hopefully will be posting cards soon.

Hello again

Yes, I'm still here.  Haven't had much time for blogging/stamping in the past few months.  So much has happened.  DH retired/new job/location change.  Middle daughter graduated from high school.  House to clean/fix ready to sell(and let me tell you..junk reproduces in porportion to how long it has been left unsupervised).  My poor craft room sits there abandoned and alone, filled with extra boxes of junk I need to go through.  Luckily...the end of the tunnel is in sight and I plan on getting back into the stamp of things next week.  The dust will finally settle for a bit and allow me time to get some cards stamped!  (my stash is horribly depleted..I've been resorting to cards from work!) So cross off the 'fell off the earth' theory..I'll be posting soon.

Mothers

My mother is a quilter, a very good quilter.  She has tried over the years to make me see the light and come to the fat quarter side of things, but I have never had the patience for this craft.  I cross stitch (of which it may take years to finish a project, if it does get finished...) but a quilt is a big investment.  I was thinking about her this week( since I forgot to call her this last weekend) and had seen a card similar to this(actually think it was on Nicole's blog) and knew I had to make one to send to her.  

Top of the morning

I finally got a chance to stamp!  I had seen a card similar to this and just had to try it!  Easy peasy.  My kinda card.  We're heading out to visit the area where we are supposed to be moving to, and as an added bonus...going to see Jeff Dunham in concert!!  

Slithering your way

I have a great Secret Sister this round, who has sent me some really cute images!  I got this one in the mail this week and had to use it.  Again, bittersweet paper, the image and the hearts are from my SS.  This is one of those quick and easy cards.  Love when they go together in under 10 minutes.  I'm so glad that Valentine's day is almost over.  I'm ready for some different colors.  : )

Well, I almost made it a whole week posting.. and then fell of the planet for a week.  Got to go to the mall crawling last week with my girls and a great friend. We stopped at Archivers and actually restrained ourselves!  Then this last weekend the girls and I went to an incredible concert, Winter Jam.  I had forgotten how loud girls can scream when a boy band comes on stage...Hawk Nelson.  I, of course, was waiting patiently for Toby Mac to hit the stage.  He put on an awesome show! The girls got all the guys in Hawk Nelson to sign their t-shirts and got Brandon Heaths autograph.  Anywho, I did get to stamp a few times this week, so posts today and tomorrow.  This girl has been sitting on my desk for the past 3 weeks, colored and ready to find a card to go on.  I had finally gotten the bittersweet (basic grey) paper in the mail and wanted to try it out. I'm kinda strange about paper pads, I make myself use the patterns I like the least first, to savor the ones I like the best, last.  I wonder if there is a name for that disease...lol

To Bling or Not to Bling

To bling or not to bling, that is the question.  Whether 'tis nobler in the hearts of stampers... 

I just couldn't make up my mind whether I liked the card with or without sparkle.  So I did it both ways. I'm working my way through using up as much of my hoard as I can.(hence the square crystals,button, hemp and dp) Other than my declutter resolution (which is coming along just fine) I'm resolved to use up a bunch of the hoard I have in my craft room.  Its time for it to see the light of day and be used!!! I don't want to have to move all this stuff.  So, every chance I get, I'm up there making stuff and using it up.  I dread having to go through my scrapbooking stuff also, luckily its not as out of control as my stamping. 

Hearts and Flowers

A stamping friend of mine got this set and let me stamp a few images of it.  I didn't know quite what to do with it at first, but finally got a card done.  Top image is inside and bottom is outside..I know backwards.  Silly me.  

Winter play

We recently had some very cold temps for the south.  I didn't mind it too much being a transplant..but did bemoan the fact that if it was going to be so cold..there had better be snow on the ground. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate.  But it gave me a great opportunity to break out this cute snowman and bear to try out.  I made this card for my secret sister over on SCS.  Isn't he so cute!!  I waver between quick and practical stamping.  It must be a bi-polar craft thing.  Oh, and if you like blogs check out my fav found here.  She won't disappoint and if you feel so inclined please vote for her!  

A Moment of Silence

My dh, bless his heart, is a man of few needs.  He doesn't hunt, fish, watch car races, woodwork or golf.  His hobbies are simple and  few.  Yesterday we said goodbye to his baby, his refuge that when he got under foot and 3 women were on the rag at the same time and he needed a safe harbour from the raging hormones he would go and she would comfort him.  So please, a moment of silence in respect for the mourning. Her new owner seemed quite giddy to have her (and managed to lock himself out of her his drive home).  Hopefully in the future he will have another sweetheart like her, but it won't ever be the same as the first one. : )

Now onward:

  Here is the last of my Christmas cards that I sent out this last year.  There were actually 2 types of this card, the other had Santa on the front, same type, same colors, same Bat channel.  I had meant to post this way back when, but due to the problem of me having children and they not having their Christmas present of their own camera, my batteries where dead.  Again. Now glorious bliss, my camera can survive day after day without being subjected to a million shots for click happy teenagers and funny poses. And now another subject:

Bad, bad blogger am I.  What have I been doing? Not much stamping, I can tell you that.  I just started back in on it this last week.  Did I make a New Year's resolution this year? YUP! For the first time, yes.  And its one that I'm actually going to keep. (not that I have much choice in the matter)  The resolution was to declutter and dejunk my house.  Have to because we are moving and the house has to be 'staged' to sell in this current financial climate.  We started out going room by room.  Then when we hit the master bedroom (aka the junk drop room) we hit a major roadblock.  Did you know that if you leave receipts and records alone..they will mulitiply in proportion to the time left there?  We're talking 23 years of ALL receipts, checks, paystubs, bill receipts..dang it.. I kept everything!  (by the way, thanks Mom for that packrat gene) I'm on my 2nd shredder and am seriously considering having a big bon fire.  Ok, enough of my ranting and ravings.  The house actually is beginning to look better than it has in years and the decluttering is such a liberating experience.  On the craft front, I will have cards back up starting Monday.  I need to start dejunking that room this weekend.  But I have started to stamp again just to stay sane.  See y'all Monday.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

I have officially been bitten by the Amuse bug. They are so small and so stinkin' cute!! Between them and the Elzybells they carry... I'm in trouble!

Card deets: Cardstock-Ballet Blue, Whisper White, glimmer silver (0ld retired SU). Stamps-Chubby Bird (Amuse). Ink-black noir, image colored with copics and glitter copics. Accessories- organdy ribbon, cuttlebug snowflake, nestibilities, snowflake stickers.

Eep

I totally forgot to post yesterday. What can I plead? Ignorance, too busy, forgot. I'm not sure. Possibly because my brain melted when we called the DMV after morning class and found out my middle child is taking her driving test tomorrow. Ok, I got it, I'm pleading temporary insanity! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Card deets: Cardstock- white (PTI), holiday vintage prints dp (PTI), real red. Stamps- Baby It's Cold Outside (MFT). Ink- black noir, image colored with glitter copics. Accessories-rub on Merry Christmas.

A rose is a rose

So I decided to use some images I had colored last year and had left sitting. Couldn't decide which dp paper I like better, not even sure I liked it...but here it is. Card deets: Cardstock-true thyme, real red, su dp from a couple years ago. Stamp set-Christmas cardinal (SU), Take a Bough (PTI). Ink-palette black, image colored with pencils and stickles added in the center of flower. Accessories- red organdy ribbon

Card deets- same as above except top dp paper is cosmo cricket. And ribbon is red twill from PTI.

Boy is it cold out there!

Well, I have been a christmas card crazed stamper lately. The last couple of days have managed to crank out about 20 cards. I'm going for getting about 8 done a day this week and I'll be set. Of course being the strange compulsive person I am, they all have to be different each day. So good for you in that I'll be posting for this week every day. Stay warm..its cold out there!

Card deets: Stamps-Polar Holiday and Poochie Christmas (Cat's Pajamas). Cardstock- Basic black, cranberry crisp, river rock and BG Wassil dp. Ink-Palette black Noir, image colored with copics and glitter copics. Accessories- Cuttlebug snowflakes, small gold dots and square scallop punch.